The fine focaccia sandwiches at Leoni’s Focaccia in Scottsdale are gone.

But they’ll be back, and they’re bringing reinforcements.

Those who visited last week may have discovered the sandwich shop closed, but only because Danielle Leoni and Dwayne Allen — who also run The Breadfruit and Rum Bar in downtown Phoenix — have bigger plans for their Italian eatery.

“The old space (at 7116 E. Mercer Lane) was more of an incubator,” explains Allen who, along with Leoni, opened the restaurant just over a year ago. “We knew that eventually we would have to come back downtown.”

Though they had not originally planned on leaving Scottsdale so soon, the husband-and-wife team have seized an opportunity to join The Blocks of Roosevelt Row. The new development, in the Flowers building on the southeast corner of Fifth and Roosevelt streets, also will house Aaron Chamberlin’s forthcoming restaurant, Taco Chelo.

Rather than operate two restaurants while launching a third, the couple opted to close down the original location of Leoni’s Focaccia to focus on its successor. “We just didn’t want to stretch ourselves too thin,” Allen says.

Leoni and Allen are currently in the design phase on the new space, where they hope to begin construction next month in preparation for a late fall opening.

“We’ve finally found our space and I am so excited to take this downtown,” Leoni says. “This is my neighborhood, and I’m excited to be here for the next 20 years or better.”

Expect a full-service restaurant

The new Leoni’s Focaccia at The Blocks will be a significant upgrade over the original.

“It’s not a sandwich shop anymore,” Allen says. “The sandwiches will still be a big part of what it is, but it’s more of a salumeria meets a focacceria meets a gelateria, and then you throw a wine bar on top of it.”

The once-diminutive lunchtime shop will become a full-service restaurant offering lunch, dinner and late night to 70 patrons at a time, including a 20- to 25-seat patio in the back and a wine bar inside. Allen, overseeing the design, is aiming for a lively, casual space that’s open from the street all the way through to the back.

In addition to greatly expanding the footprint of the original, the new location will allow Leoni and Allen to turn Leoni’s Focaccia into the restaurant they’ve envisioned since the beginning.

“It affords us physical space, but it also affords us figurative space to be more creative,” Leoni adds. “This place is going to enable me to have a more full expression of all the things I had at home when I grew up.”

In addition to the sandwiches, Leoni will expand her menu to include:

A wider variety of seasoned and topped focaccia.

Selections of salumi to pair with wine.

A more expansive list of soups and salads.

Iconic Italian-American pastas.

More freshly baked pastries.

House-made gelato.

Danielle Leoni of The Breadfruit and Rum Bar in Phoenix plans to open an expanded Leoni's Focaccia at The Blocks of Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix.(Photo: Danielle Leoni)

“I want it to be simple and clean and uncomplicated and not pretentious,” Leoni says. “Big, bold, quintessential Italian flavor.”

Emphasis on Arizona wine

The bar will include cocktails, a collection of amari and some wines from out of state, but Arizona wine will be its focal point, and Allen is quick to credit his inspiration.

“When it comes to paying homage to the hard work that our Arizona wine growers are doing, Pavle (Milic) has been a very vocal champion," Allen says, referring to the owner of FnB restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale. "We just want to pick up on that and bring it to central Phoenix.”

Moreover, Leoni and Allen see the laid-back vibe of a casual wine bar as an integral part of the spirit they hope to capture at their new venture.

“People know us for The Breadfruit and Rum Bar, and that’s more of an upscale experience, and we want to give our neighborhood the flip side of that” at the new Leoni's Focaccia, Allen says. “It’s a place where you’ll just come to relax and not have to think too much but everything will be top-notch.”

“We’ve finally found our space and I am so excited to take this downtown,” Leoni adds. “This is my neighborhood, and I’m excited to be here for the next 20 years or better.”